Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Army soldier held by the Taliban since June 2009, gave several indications that he might "walk off into the mountains" leading up to his captivity, according to an in-depth article by Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone.

On June 30th, 2009, Bergdahl walked off a U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan with nothing but water, a knife, a digital camera and his diary.

He was subsequently captured by the Taliban and has been featured in numerous videos while being held by the Haqqani network near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Hastings chronicles Bergdahl's path from home-schooled boy in Idaho to SAW gunner in Afghanistan and provides accounts from members of Bergdahl's platoon that describe odd behavior prior to his capture.

The 26-year-old "came across more like a boy on an adventure than a soldier preparing for war," Hastings writes, and at one point told a fellow soldier: "If this deployment is lame, I'm just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan."

Once he arrived at the Paktika outpost, Bergdahl "spent more time with the Afghans than he did with his platoon" and on the morning that he walked off, he asked his superior: "If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took my sensitive equipment?"

Perhaps the most telling revelations come from his last email to his parents, sent three days before his capture, in which Bergdahl seems completely disillusioned with the war effort.

From Rolling Stone: 

•  "The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong... I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting."
• "In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong... the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools."
• "The US army is ... the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies... I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live."
• "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them."

On June 30 the platoon leader reported a missing solider at 9:00 a.m. Soldiers and drones began a frantic search without knowing if Bergdahl was a deserter,­ prisoner or casualty, according to Hastings.

Drones picked up a voice tranmission that said an "American soldier with a camera was reportedly looking for someone who spoke English" and by that evening two F-15s and two F-18s had joined the search.

Hastings details the subsequent months in which U.S. officials tried to negotiate his release and Bergdahl made a failed escape attempt as the Pentagon and White House "pressured major news outlets like The New York Times and the AP to steer clear of mentioning Bowe's name to avoid putting him at further risk."

All the while a debate raged among lawmakers about whether Bergdahl was a hero or a deserter.

One Obama administration official told Hastings, "We don't give a shit why he left. He's an American soldier. We want to bring him home."

However, another senior U.S. official involved in the negotiations said that "[Defense secretary Leon] Panetta and [Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] don't give a shit about getting him home."

Hastings cites a State Department officials who said that Bergdahl is "a topic in any meeting we ever had with the Taliban," but negotiations were suspended by the Taliban on March 15 and U.S. officials have not been in any contact with them since.

Read the full story at Rolling Stone >

ALSO SEE: New Developments Come To Light As We Retrace The Chilling Route Of Alleged Murderer Staff Sgt. Robert Bales >

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Congressman Randy Forbes, a Republican from Virginia, is tired of defense analysts, reporters, and policymakers skirting around the C-word.

That would be China. 

The representative, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, feels that the national security establishment has refused to speak openly about the reason why we're shifting the axis of the United States Military into the Pacific.

He's tired of dodging the issue.

Namely, a certain "competitor" which has created a series of investments into military technology, armament and forces, a region which is worthy of some oversight and monitoring. 

That, in Forbes' opinion, is euphemistic national security-speak for China, and he just wants people to come out and say it already. 

He refers to remarks by Naval War College professors which compare the national security establishment's handling of China to the character Voldemort of Harry Potter renown. An adversary whose name cannot be spoken, lest dire consequences occur. 

And the other day, he came out strongly for discussing China openly. 

He rails, in a column for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), against a defense establishment which refuses to mention the People's Republic of China (PRC) even when policy is developed to respond to only China. 

You can read Forbes' entire piece here

For instance, he refers to recent developments in air-sea battle concepts designed to respond to anti-access/area-denial capabilities.

You know, like the ones that the PRC is developing.

Even when discussing those concepts and the cause of their development, Forbes says that "Pentagon officials have gone to great lengths to insist its development is not about China."

Forbes does insist that he doesn't mean to imply that conflict is inevitable with the world's largest country. He just believes that China has a "clear intention to focus on undermining traditional US military advantages."

It's understandable, then, that the Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness argues that the "best way to avoid great-power conflict is to remain vigilantly prepared."

Now: Check out what's next in drone warfare >>

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When the USS Intrepid announced it would house the decommissioned space shuttle Enterprise there was no doubt BI Military & Defense would be there.

The only question was how and where to watch the historical event. This was answered while traveling aboard the USS Wasp when a roommate offered to have me on board the Intrepid as his guest when the shuttle arrived. 

I accepted, and my buddy proved true to his word. He met me outside the museum yesterday morning and gave me a view of the process I couldn't have gotten anywhere else. Even with his help, running around to get the best view was an ordeal—but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

We got to the Intrepid 90 minutes before the Enterprise was scheduled to arrive — as always it was packed with school kids

At that time workers were still laboring over the frame of the structure that would house the Enterprise

After waiting around for awhile, the action started. This $27 million FDNY ship—the country's largest fire boat—was the first thing to grab our attention

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Russia and China just indicated they're planning to make a big move into Afghanistan. 

As the War in Afghanistan winds down and the United States focuses on making final inroads economically, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) just made Afghanistan an observing member on Wednesday. 

This could mean big things for Afghanistan, but might mean that the U.S. will get scooped on access to valuable natural resources. 

The SCO was founded in 2001 and is a multinational mutual-security organization made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. China played host this year to the yearly conference, and announced that Afghanistan would be made an observing member.

The group routinely denies the constant allegations that it's a military bloc.

The group focuses on security concerns and economic cooperation. As China continues to invest internationally, the move to bring Afghanistan into the SCO as an observer is a bold move on the part of the central Asian co-op. 

But China comes out as the big winner.

The move could also open up access to a chunk of a $10 billion loan that Chinese President Hu Jintao announced last week, money intended to support economic development among SCO member states. 

China and Russia dominate the group, each with an immense economy compared to the other members and the ability to inject capital into neighboring countries as they wish. 

This throws a wrench into American plans. 

The recent prominence of the group — especially the warming relationship between Russia and China — presents a new consideration for United States foreign policy makers when planning strategies to remain economically significant in Asia. 

China is going all in for Afghan natural resources for a really good reason, too. 

The AP reported that firms from China have already moved into Afghanistan and plan to make a fortune off of that country's ample mineral deposits — estimated to be worth anywhere from $1 trillion to $3 trillion. 

China's National Petroleum Corp currently has the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan, a $3.5 billion stake in a copper mine. 

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I have to admit, I’m a little nervous.

When I write something, I fully expect people to disagree with me and to call me an idiot after reading my “analysis.”

But I rarely expect to anger people.

My latest article has the potential to really anger a lot of people. About 6 million of them.

I’ve got an op-ed at The National Interest on the need to reform Tricare, the military healthcare system.

The numbers, however, do not allow for continued inaction. Increasing health-care costs in DoD’s budget mean less money for bombs, bullets and training. Fielding a military but supplying it with obsolete equipment and minimal training is the definition of a hollow force. Sensible reforms, like the ones proposed in the administration’s FY2013 budget request, will not break faith with military retirees and their families. But Congress must acknowledge that Tricare is merely a policy, part of a larger military compensation package that seeks to recruit and retain the best men and women for military service. It was never intended to become an inalienable right.

Due to space constraints, I had to omit things that I fear might lead some readers to question my support for military retirees. I want to go on record with some things here.

1. I do not believe Tricare should be abolished or that retirees should not have access to subsidized healthcare in some form.
2. I do believe military retirees should contribute more than they currently do. They should expect to pay, on average, at least 25% of their healthcare costs as was intended by Congress when it established Tricare in 1996.
3. Enlisted veterans should not pay as much as officers. Tricare enrollment fees should be tiered based on retirement pay.
4. Working age retirees who earn over a certain amount each year (including retirement pay), say $150,000, should not be allowed to use Tricare. They should be forced to use their civilian employer’s healthcare plan. Once they stop working, they can join Tricare for Life.
5. Reforms must grandfather some people into the current system.
6. Tricare enrollment fees should be indexed to inflation for the general healthcare sector, which should go a long way toward stabilizing DoD’s costs.
7. I do believe that we are dangerously close to viewing veterans as a privileged, entitled class of people. This I fear is corrosive to civil-military relations and widens the gap between those who serve and those who don’t. The challenge is fighting for and receiving the care veterans deserve without becoming entitled.

Andrew Bacevich used a great quote from FDR in a recent book review that I wanted to crib, but didn’t. After General MacArthur broke up the “Bonus Marchers” camp in Washington, DC, Roosevelt let it be known that “no person, because he wore a uniform, must therefore be placed in a special class of beneficiaries.”

Anyway, read the whole thing here.

Don't Miss: This Afghanistan firefight shows why troops never leave home without a 'SAW' >

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Brain injuries so subtle that they don't produce a loss of consciousness and can only be detected by an ultra-sensitive imaging test can predispose soldiers in combat to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study from the University of Rochester Medical Center. 

The study — funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation — involved 52 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans who served in combat areas between 2001 and 2008.

Approximately four years after their last tour of duty, researchers asked each veteran about PTSD symptoms, blast exposures and mild concussions in addition to measuring combat stress by asking about the intensity of deployment duties (such as dealing with human remains), vehicle accidents and combat experiences such as being ambushed or knowing someone who was seriously injured or killed. 

Results showed that 30 of the 52 veterans suffered at least one mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) with seven reporting more than one, and that 60 percent of the veterans were exposed to one or more explosive blasts.

All 52 veterans had one or more PTSD symptoms and 15 met the formal criteria for PTSD, which the study notes is a "devastating psychiatric illness."

The severity of each veterans' PTSD symptoms correlated with the amount of injury to the neurons seen on the MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans — DTI is a very sensitive scan used to test damage to neurons that occurs during a concussion — but PTSD severity did not correlate with the clinical diagnosis of mild TBI.

Consequently, the findings suggest that subtle brain injury can occur without producing the loss of consciousness or amnesia that is typically associated with diagnosis of mild TBI. Furthermore, that type of under-the-radar injury can make a person more vulnerable to psychiatric illness when coupled with extreme chronic stress.

"Most people believe that, to a large extent, chronic stress from intense combat experiences triggers PTSD. Our study adds more information by suggesting that a physical force such as exposure to a bomb blast also may play a role in the genesis of the syndrome," lead author Jeffrey J. Bazarian, M.D., M.P.H., said in a press release.

The nature of the interaction between TBI and PTSD has been unclear up to this point, but the researchers believe that they are the first to find an association that can be demonstrated on living soldiers with advanced imaging techniques.

The findings will be helpful to physicians who are trying try to "untangle the symptom overlap between PTSD and mild TBI" so that they can properly treat soldiers returning from deployment at a time when suicides are occurring at the fastest pace of the decade-long war.

The Associated Press reported that there have been 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of this year (up to June 3), which is 16 percent ahead of the pace for the previous high in 2009 and about 50 percent more than the number of U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan over that time.

And in January the USA Today reported in January IED attacks hit a record high of more than 16,000 in Afghanistan last year (a pace that has continued).

"Based on our results, it looks like the only way to detect this injury is with DTI/MRI," Bazarian said. "While it may not be feasible due to costs and limited availability of some neuro-imaging tests to screen thousands of service members for brain injury, our study highlights the pressing need to develop simpler tests that are accurate and practical, that correlate with brain injury."

ALSO SEE: Scientists Looked Inside The Brains Of Troops Killed By Bombs And Made This Shocking Discovery >

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Meet the woman responsible for making sure all of the Air Force's weapons are ready for war.

General Janet Wolfenbarger is blowing away any hint of the military's fabled glass ceiling.

First, she became the first female four-star general in Air Force history.

Now she's taken the top position of Air Force Material Command (AFMC), which has one simple vision: "War-winning capabilities — on time, on cost."

In addition to an impressive list of past positions — such as directing the B-2 bomber program and monitoring the F-22 Raptor — she has a graduate degree from MIT in aeronautics and astronautics.

Her new job at AFMC puts a ton on her plate. The command oversees several research and logistics centers responsible for "cradle-to-grave" research, development, testing, acquisition, and sustainment of every single Air Force weapon system. Lately, F-35 strike fighter development has been in the news extensively. Wolfenbarger will be at the helm of equipping the Air Force with the best hardware. 

And as the Stars and Stripes points out, she'll take charge of some significant reshaping across the force at a time when military services are trying to cut back on spending:

Wolfenbarger will have the responsibility to manage AFMC, a command with a $60 billion budget and a workforce of more than 80,000 service wide, as it consolidates 12 directorates into five across nine bases by Oct. 1.

But of course, she's confident and "really, really excited."

"There has probably been no better environment in my time in the Air Force in which to put forth good ideas, and have those good ideas get a sound hearing so that we can collectively respond to our part of the budget challenge," she said.

"AFMC has already embraced finding ways to accomplish the mission more efficiently, while also preserving the welfare of our people.

"But we're not finished yet," she adds.

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A spiraling vortex of light and smoke had people from Istanbul to Tehran up-in-arms last night, jamming police hotlines with calls and demands for answers.

Alan Boyle at MSNBC did a bit of a roundup of all the reports from across the region and says UFO was a common guess, but others took the heavenly display as a divine omen.

Some people on Twitter said it meant good things for the Syrian revolution, while others claimed the opposite and that the display signaled impending chemical weapon attacks.

It turned out it was a Russian test of its Topol ICBM from an air base in the southern part of the country.

Kremlin officials claim the test was a complete success, while Boyle cites a report from RIA Novosti that says the spiral formations are more likely fuel remains as the rocket spun out of control.

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The news of lower enlisted troops acting out and falling apart seems to draw more media attention than when a high-ranking official falls prey to his own flaws and hubris. 

Not always, there was the case of this Navy officer who allegedly partied hard in Bahrain and came crashing down, but the downfall of Army Colonel James H. Johnson III is almost impossible to believe and may never have been discovered without his wife turning him in.

Colonel Johnson was the commander of the hard-charging, frequently deployed 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy. Johnson's case is perhaps even more stunning to me because I was stationed in Vicenza for three years and a smaller, tighter-knit military community I cannot imagine.

There simply are no secrets on Caserma Ederle. But then, Johnson wasn't really trying to be so secretive at the end.

Nancy Montgomery at Stars and Stripes reports this is how he accrued 27 separate charges under military law:

A West Point graduate and the son of a lieutenant general, Johnson assumed command of the 173rd in 2008, three years after he'd deployed to Iraq and allegedly begun a relationship with an Iraqi woman.

The woman's father was a Kurdish math teacher who tipped Johnson off to impending attacks and with whom the colonel developed an ongoing rapport.

When Johnson took command of the 173rd, the girl's family was in the Netherlands and he would allegedly visit her there and take trips around the world — billing tens-of-thousands of dollars to his government credit card.

Prosecutors say he then gave the family a cellphone that racked up $80,000 in fees and provided the father a salary as a "cultural advisor".

He then allegedly billed the military 60-grand for a payment to the dad for imaginary goods and services — then things got downright crazy.

While he was still married to his wife, Johnson sent her back to the states, married the Iraqi woman in Montana, moved her into his quarters in Italy, and kicked his wife off his health insurance plan.

That last move proved his undoing, for while recovering from surgery in New York Mrs. Johnson found she wasn't covered and called authorities.

The move could cost her up to $4 million in benefits from her husband's military retirement, but she feels it was the only thing to do.

“He was spinning out of control," she said. "I saw no one else was going to stop him.”

Johnson faces four charges of failing to obey orders, four charges of making false statements, one of forgery, eight charges of fraud, six of conduct unbecoming, and four that cover the bigamy and adultery.

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FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — By night, the lights of dozens of ships anchored off this eastern Emirati port create the mirage of a far-off city at sea.

The crowded anchorage reflects Fujairah's rise as one of the world's busiest maritime refueling stations. Soon it will also become a vital new exit route for Arabian crude oil destined for world markets.

The United Arab Emirates is nearing completion of a pipeline through the mountainous sheikdom that will allow it to reroute the bulk of its oil exports around the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the path for a fifth of the world's oil supply.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strategically sensitive waterway, which is patrolled by Iranian and U.S. warships, in retaliation for ramped-up Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

That threat has raised worries among Gulf countries that conflicts could block the route to market for their most lucrative resource. But only the UAE and Oman have coastlines on the Indian Ocean side of the strait that would enable them to go around the chokepoint by land. Saudi Arabia also can avoid Hormuz by shipping its Gulf fields' oil production out of its Red Sea ports, but it would have to increase the capacity of those ports and of pipelines running across the breadth of the country to handle its total output.

With the Emirates' new pipeline, oil from fields deep in the Abu Dhabi desert would travel 236 miles (380 kilometers) overland and across the barren Hajar mountains to this fast-growing port on the edge of the Indian Ocean.

At the moment, Emirati oil exports are loaded in the Gulf and must pass through Hormuz. Once it's running at full volume, the pipeline will let the UAE get two-thirds of its peak oil production to market even if the strait is shut. That's about 10 percent of the total 17 million barrels of oil a day that currently goes through Hormuz.

The director general of Fujairah municipality, Mohammed Saif al-Afkham, told The Associated Press he expects the pipeline to be commissioned this month.

"This will add a lot to the shipment of oil, and it will make it faster and easier instead of going to the Gulf," he said.

Officials have not announced a firm starting date. But al-Afkham's comments and those of other Emirati officials suggest exports could begin soon.

Energy Minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli told a Paris conference last month the four-foot-wide pipeline is finished and is being tested.

It is designed to handle 1.5 million barrels of crude a day. Al-Hamli has said that figure could rise to 1.8 million barrels.

Al-Hamli and the state-run International Petroleum Investment Co., which is building the pipeline, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment about the project. Neither did the China National Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of which was contracted to construct the pipeline.

The project is immensely important for the UAE, an important American ally. The seven state federation is OPEC's third largest exporter of oil, after neighboring Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"If there are effective bypass routes, it makes it less likely that Iran would try to block it," said Robin Mills, head of consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting & Project Management in Dubai.

The Emirates' Sunni leadership is wary of Tehran's regional influence, especially in Shiite-led countries such as Iraq and Syria and Shiite-majority Bahrain in the Gulf.

A longstanding tussle over three Gulf islands claimed by the Emirates and Iran along the shipping lanes approaching the Strait of Hormuz continues to fester. The dispute flared up again last week when the commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard traveled to the islands, almost a month after a similar visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tightening sanctions against Iran are also straining its reliance on Dubai and other long-established Emirati trading ports.

With tensions high, Emirati officials are careful not to link the pipeline directly to threats from their neighbor across the Gulf.

Yet there is little doubt the pipeline is an insurance policy against any threat to the strait.

"It gives a sense of security just in case there are any issues," UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said this week when asked about the economic benefits of the project. Only later did he add that the pipeline would also offer additional export capacity if oil production increases.

For Fujairah, the pipeline is a way to solidify its standing as an emerging petroleum hub.

About two dozen ships on average already pick up fuel for their own engines in Fujairah every day, according to editor Ada Taib at Bunkerworld, an online site that tracks the industry. Port authority estimates show it is now the world's second busiest maritime refueling spot globally after Singapore, she said.

The waterfront around Fujairah port is dotted with more than 100 towering fuel silos. Eight larger storage tanks, each capable of holding 1 million barrels of crude, mark the terminus for the new oil pipeline.

Even more energy infrastructure is on the horizon.

IPIC, the Abu Dhabi company building the crude pipeline, is planning a $3 billion, 200,000 barrel-a-day refinery at Fujairah. It and another government-backed firm, Mubadala Development Co., in March announced they will develop a terminal at Fujairah to receive liquefied natural gas for domestic use.

"There's a recognition that it's a strategic asset having an outlet on the Indian Ocean," said Mills, who added that the UAE is eager to get the crude oil pipeline running as soon as it can. "Tensions do come and go pretty quickly. You always want to have it ready."

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With the U.S. moving the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific, commanders are eagerly looking for invitations to park the planes and ships that will be pouring into the region.

Travis Tritten at Stars and Stripes reports that the Pentagon has apparently been fanning the old flame of friendship with the Philippines and will be re-opening two bases it left in 1991 — Subic Bay and Clark Air Base.

The U.S. had a falling out with the island nation in the early nineties and pulled out of the bases, which were then built-up by a series of private developers and builders. How useful what's left is a matter of debate, but the locations used to be major centers of operation for American forces in the Pacific.

Clark Air Base and its military reservation are 244 square miles of land that played a vital role for the U.S. during the Vietnam war and is capable of hosting the largest of America's military aircraft.

Subic Bay played an even greater role in U.S. operations and until the withdrawal in 1991 it was the largest American overseas military base in the world. The waters at Subic Bay should have no problem hosting U.S. submarines and the largest of naval ships.

The Philippines has been embroiled in a major dispute with China in the nearby Spratley Islands and Beijing is unlikely to be happy with this news.

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Chinese companies apparently have a covert capability to remotely access communications technology sold to the United States and other Western countries and could "disable a country's telecommunications infrastructure before a military engagement," according to former and current intelligence sources.

The Chinese also have the ability to exploit networks "to enable China to continue to steal technology and trade secrets," according to the open source intelligence company Lignet, which is comprised of former U.S. intelligence analysts.

The issue centers on the Chinese firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which U.S. intelligence sources say has direct links to the Chinese government and the People's Liberation Army, or PLA. These sources assert that Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications firms such as ZTE Corp. have "electronic backdoors" to telecommunications technology sold to the U.S. and other countries.

Revelation of China's electronic backdoor capability into U.S. and Western telecommunications networks comes on the heels of recent WND/G2Bulletin revelations that China has been manufacturing counterfeit components that have made their way into sensitive U.S. weapons systems.

The problem of fake Chinese electronic components, which were installed by defense contractors without prior testing and are operating in U.S. military systems, is far more widespread than originally thought.

These parts don't just come directly from China but also from suppliers in Britain and Canada who redirect Chinese products to U.S. defense contractors.

These counterfeit components have been found in sensitive U.S. missile systems meant to thwart the potential of a Chinese missile attack, in night vision devices and in various military aircraft.

"We do not want a $12 million defense interceptor's reliability compromised by a $2 counterfeit part," Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

Huawei, suspected of exploiting electronic telecommunications backdoors, continues to sell communications technology in the U.S. and other countries despite a supposed ban on the company that was supposed to keep it from bidding on cellular networks and government contracts, a current intelligence source said.

The electronic backdoor capability reportedly could allow the Chinese government through Huawei and ZTE to access information traveling through telecommunications networks or even sabotage electronic devices, Lignet said.

With this capability, China would be in a position to sabotage critical U.S. weapons systems and sensitive cyber sites and could include intelligence or systems used by defense contractors doing work on behalf of the U.S. government.

With cyber espionage on the rise and increasing attacks aimed at U.S. government computer systems, these sources contend that Huawei has achieved that capability on behalf of the Chinese government.

Sources say that Huawei can use its backdoor access to reach into foreign telecommunications company systems without its knowledge or permission.

In the case of the mobile phone maker ZTE, Lignet said that the company pursued a security vulnerability through an electronic backdoor on cell phones run on Google's Android system.

"This backdoor reportedly could allow someone to remotely control the phone," Lignet said.

In 2013 defense budget legislation, the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee had introduced language to require a search of all U.S. nuclear weapons arsenals and infrastructure to remove products from Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE because of the possibility of "backdoors or code for espionage and/or sabotage purposes by the Chinese government," Lignet pointed out.

These revelations follow a warning by the U.S. Department of Defense that Chinese hackers are aiming malware at U.S. government agencies and industries that could threaten the nation's economy.

The indication is that these attacks are directed by the Chinese government itself.

"Chinese actors are the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage," according to a DOD in a recent report to Congress. "Chinese attempts to collect U.S. technological and economic information will continue at a high level and will represent a growing and persistent threat to U.S. economic security.

"China is likely to remain an aggressive and capable collector of sensitive U.S. economic information and technologies, particularly in cyberspace," DOD added.

Another concern raised by sources is that Huawei and the other Chinese telecommunications companies also provide technology to Iran and the Taliban.

According to sources, Iran's security network relies on Huawei technology, raising the prospect, sources say, that the Iranians could gain the same backdoor access as the Chinese intelligence service does to U.S. defense and sensitive industries.

This concern has been heightened by new Iranian threats to undertake a cyber war with the U.S. in response to recent revelations that the U.S. was a principal player in launching a sophisticated cyber attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Code-named Olympic Games, the effort by the Obama administration was to initiate a cyber war against Iran along with Israel. Such a revelation left little doubt that the U.S. and Israel also were behind the Stuxnet virus which was inflicted on Iran's centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium.

One source said that Washington already has declared that a cyber attack on U.S. computer systems would constitute an act of war and that would call for a military response. The Pentagon earlier this month said that there would be a U.S. military response if there is a cyber attack on government networks – in effect, equating hacking with an act of war.

Yet, the U.S. already has initiated such an attack on Iran which now is threatening to do the same thing to U.S. computer systems.

In attempting to uncover cyber attacks before too much damage has been done, sources say that there are millions of lines of software code that transmit data securely and to find a malicious code would be problematic and cost-prohibitive.

F. Michael Maloof, staff writer for WND’s G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He can be contacted at mmaloof@wnd.com.

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North Korea's abilities to wage a devastating cyber war are behind only those of the United States and Russia, after the isolated nation has devoted more than thirty years toward development and research, a South Korean expert has claimed.

All that prep is finally paying off for the North Koreans. 

That declaration, by information security  professor Lee Dong-hoon, comes in the wake of two weeks of devastating attacks on GPS signals which interfered with signals throughout the Korean peninsula. 

The GPS jamming, which was carried out unabated by North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, were carried out from April 28 to May 13, Stars and Stripes reported. 

That agency is quickly becoming the bane of the world's cyber-defense industry. 

The Reconnaissance General Bureau is the overseer of all North Korean sabotage and espionage operations, and has been recruiting and training a generation of cyber warriors. The bureau has developed a nurturing mentality toward information disruption specialists, creating one of the most dominant digital warfare groups on the planet.

They've made a culture of hacking.

The Bureau has units devoted to cyber attacks on the South Korean military, propaganda dissemination across the greater internet, and hacking operations.

This isn't the first time they've landed success ful hits, not by a long shot. 

In 2009, South Korean military sites suffered a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, an cyber strategy wherein a group of antagonists bombard a target website with such a volume of hits and requests that the site is knocked down, rendering it unusable for people who actually need it.

That attack, likely carried out by Pyongyang Computer Technology University, knocked out 26 South Korean and foreign governmental websites. 

But this latest attack had sweeping, real-world impacts.

The latest hit, against the GPS signal in South Korea, cause national disruption and confusion in air traffic control and maritime transit. Moreover, the North Korans have been devoted to hacking South Korean defense systems, and their dedication is still causing problems. 

The South Korean military remains woefully unprepared for mounting counterattacks in this active cyber war. 

They don't even have a cyber unit, training, or command, and what they do have in the information security sector amounts to recruits from telecom colleges.

With them up against an adversary with a culture of cyber war ingrained in their strategy, on their own the South Koreans are woefully out-gunned on that front. 

Now check out these stunning photos from inside North Korea >>

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When we did a post on a building project by U.S. soldiers in Djibouti, Africa, we were surprised by how much attention the photos got.

The seemingly primitive "eco-dome" was made from bags, dirty cement, and barbed wire. But it triggered a number of questions.

There's a whole lot more to it. 

Prompted by one reader's suggestion (thanks, PJ), here's a follow up on the igloo-like building and the reasoning behind the Army's involvement in distant African communities. 

The U.S. armed forces have a multitude of missions — from war fighting and Special Operations, to humanitarian and community building. Pretty much any job in the civilian world also exists in the military, such as being a chaplain, a medic, a water purification specialist, or a financial resource management analyst. Those are all military occupations.

So, the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn Of Africa has a civil affairs battalion. You could think of it as strategic philanthropy. It's been reaching out to African partners, coaxing along national stability and encouraging economic and social advancement.

But when the U.S. economy itself isn't doing great — and poverty exists here too — it can be frustrating for the American public to see its soldiers doing community projects in far-off villages no one's heard of. 

African affairs analyst Lauren Ploch sheds light on why the U.S. would want to be entrenched in Africa:

The 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa and more recent attacks have highlighted the
threat of terrorism to U.S. interests on the continent. Political instability and civil wars have
created vast under-governed spaces, areas in which some experts allege that terrorist groups may train and operate. The upsurge in piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa has been directly
attributed to ongoing instability in Somalia. Instability also heightens human suffering and retards
economic development, which may in turn threaten U.S. economic interests. 

"An Africa that is stable, participates in free and fair markets, and contributes to global economic development is good for the United States as well as the rest of the world," reasons the task force.

So that's where the "eco-dome" building comes into play. Designed to be a focal point for the Djiboutian village of Karabti San, it's going to be a school or a clinic that'll make the community stronger.

Using a combination of recycled and natural materials, the structure is intended to be sustainable and cheap to build. The Army says all the materials that went into the dome were sourced from the environment, or donated by non-government organizations.

Staff Sgt. Joshua Erickson calls it "Earth architecture". And the construction technique is perfect for under-developed communities.

"The idea came from a corporation called Cal-Earth out of California," said the team sergeant. "There was a situation in an area we couldn’t get materials to, and this could work perfectly for it."

The Soldiers built a prototype a few years ago at Camp Lemonnier  and then pitched it to the Karabti San village. With guidance from the troops, the structure was mostly built by the villagers themselves, says the team.

"It’s fireproof, windproof, waterproof and earthquake- proof," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Kenneth Carmichael of the joint force.

He points out that it can withstand magnitude 8 earthquakes. It's not going to fall apart any time soon, and is a sound investment.

We've learned that people in the U.S. have been building their own eco-dome houses, since the concept originally came from California based on an Iranian-American architect's ideas. So there you have it:

Now see the incredible way U.S. soldiers built an eco-dome in Africa >

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And you thought that Google Street View was cool. 

Zebra Imaging of Austin, Texas is churning out 3D, holographic battle maps on demand for the U.S. Military, a new technology that is changing the way that soldiers interpret battle instructions and allowing for planning in a way that's never been possible before. 

The holograms don't require goggles, glasses, or projection; All this tech needs is a flashlight to make the flat print-out come to life in three dimensions. 

But here's the coolest part.

What's specifically awesome about the maps is that they can be requested on the first of the month by a commander in Afghanistan and can arrive from Texas by the seventh. And most of that is travel time, the Army Times reports. 

That speed means that the maps are useful at all levels of planning. 

This allows for commanders to request a map for an upcoming operation, and in the briefing show units what to anticipate in detail and depth that an aerial image can't approach. 

The tech itself is incredible. 

The maps are activated by pointing a flashlight at them, which makes the specialized prints come to life. Buildings jump outward, bunkers jump inward. The two foot by three foot maps can be rolled up, transported easily, and are scratch resistant, which allows for convenience in non-ideal situations. 

It's especially useful when the Army works with other militaries. 

Also useful is the map's ability to transcend language barriers. With photographs, articulating height, depth, and positioning requires verbal descriptions. With the 3D tech, it's all visual. 

They're also seeing widespread use as well. Around 12,000 holographic images have been used in Afghanistan and Iraq since their introduction in 2005. But never before has the turnaround time been this brief. 

The next step? Real time generation of the images. While Zebra is planning on sending one of its printers over to Afghanistan, the possibility of generating the images in real-time remains the goal for 3D holographs at the moment.  

Now, check out this slideshow of the Enterprise delivery >>

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This is Northrop Grumman's SmartNode Pod, which just had a demonstration at Mojave, California. 

It's part of the future of communications for the military. It serves as a node which allows real-time information to be exchanged between boots on the ground and commanders at base. It allows for the high speed transmission of real-time video and radio talk. 

The Pod will allow for unprecedented expansion of data transmission range, and is pictured here affixed to a Firebird aircraft. 

he data is encrypted, and Northrop demonstrated the applicability of the pod during the demo. Northrop likely hopes that it will be integrated into the upgrades to the Navy's upgraded communications system in a big way. 

Here's a picture Northrop Grumman released, with the Pod being the gray device under the Firebird: 

Photo credit to Alan Radecki / Northrop Grumman, from the press release.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just announced that its Homeland Security unit has busted 190 people — for child pornography. Eighteen victims were identified. 

It may seem odd that an immigration agency is getting involved in child pornography investigations, but the organization says that the issue of child exploitation is relevant to its powers.

Trans-border, large-scale production and distribution of images of child abuse is rampant. And the truth is there are people who travel abroad to engage in sex with minors, points out ICE. The organization has a number of missions, and cyber crime is one particular focus. It says today:

Arrests were made by HSI special agents and partner law enforcement agencies. The majority of arrests were made throughout the United States, but also included arrests in Spain, the Philippines, Argentina and the United Kingdom.

So Homeland Security is pushing borders.

It might strike some people that the FBI should be in charge of these kinds of investigations. The Bureau already has vast expertise and resources invested in undercover agents who stop child predators online.

Now, with the success of ICE's child exploitation investigations, perhaps this is an indication that federal powers are branching out, or that law enforcement agencies are partnering more liberally and blending their missions.

"Let this operation be a warning to anyone who would think they can use the Internet to exploit children: we are out there looking for you, we will find you, and you will be prosecuted, said ICE director John Morton.

Investigations targeting such people fall under ICE's "Operation Predator", with agents infiltrating and collecting evidence online. They look at chat rooms, websites, and "peer-to-peer" trading.

Today's announcement coincides with the beginning of the summer vacation season, when kids have more time to go online.

The efforts that went into the 190 arrests announced today took a month of investigating, from May 2 to 31.

You can see a sample of who was arrested, and what they did, listed here.

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Guantánamo Bay is undergoing millions of dollars of upgrades that could prepare it to remain open indefinitely, reports Michael Isikoff of NBC News.

As of this week the U.S. detainment and interrogation facility opened a $750,000 soccer field for detainees, installed cable television in a communal living area — which, by the way, has 21 cable TV channels, DVDs, newspapers and library books — and began offering "enriching your life" classes including learning to paint, writing a resume and handling personal finances for some of the 169 detainees.

Isikoff notes that only detainees who are "deemed to by compliant with the rules and therefore eligible for more privileges" can take advantage of the amenities.

The facility, located within Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, is also in the process of building a new headquarters for guards and a new hospital.

"Gitmo" has been open for over 10 years despite President Obama's campaign promise that it would be closed when he entered office.

Obama went as far as signing an executive order on Jan. 22, 2009, calling for it to be dismantled within one year through an immediate case-by case review of detainees trials in U.S. civilian courts, but faced bi-partisan opposition to transferring detainees to U.S. jails.

So he reversed the decision, signing another executive order on March 7, 2011, that said detainees would face military tribunals (the first five detainees went before a military tribunal in April) and then signed the NDAA in December, which placed heavy restrictions on transferring any detainees out of the facility.

Consequently many prisoners who U.S. officials acknowledged are innocent — such as Afghan and Pakistani farmers, chefs and drivers who were rounded up or even sold to U.S. forces and transferred across the world — continue to "languish in Guantánamo simply because they have nowhere to go" as their home countries would persecute them if they were forcibly returned while no other country will provide them safe haven, according to the Center For Constitutional Rights.

Official U.S. documents released by Wikileaks reveal that of the 780 people who have passed through Gitmo, only about 220 were assessed to be dangerous international terrorists while 380 were lower-level foot-soldiers "whose presence at the military facility is questionable" and at least 150 were the innocents who had “no reason recorded for transfer,” according to senior U.S. commanders.

Navy Adm. David B. “Woody” Woods, commander of the Guantánamo facility, told Isikoff that he doesn't anticipate the closure of Gitmo anytime soon. That means that U.S. taxpayers will continue to pay $140 million a year — or about $828,402 per detainee — to operate the prison.

ALSO SEE: Sesame Street Songs Prove To Be Worse Than Waterboarding On Guantánamo Prisoners >

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Chinese firms are breaking a United Nations embargo by supplying North Korea with key components for ballistic missiles including launch vehicles, according to evidence provided by an intelligence agency in the region.

Classified documents seen by The Daily Telegraph show that Beijing has failed to act when confronted with evidence that Chinese companies are breaking UN Resolution 1874 and helping North Korea to build long range missiles.

This measure, passed with China's support on June 12, 2009, strengthens an arms embargo by urging all UN members to inspect North Korean cargoes and destroy any items linked to the country's missile or nuclear programmes.

But a study compiled by the intelligence agency of a country in the region shows how North Korean companies are continuing to buy banned materials in China. These entities "have been smuggling in or out controlled items by either setting up and operating a front company in China, or colluding with Chinese firms to forge documents and resorting to other masking techniques," says the report.

The companies include the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, known as KOMID, which deals in weapons and military equipment and has been singled out for UN sanctions.

Launch vehicles for long range missiles are among the items illegally purchased inside China. North Korea is currently trying to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would be able to reach the United States. The country has already built a handful of nuclear bombs.

"The North Korean entities subject to UN sanctions are known to have been deeply involved in the North Korean procurement of Chinese ICBM transporter-erector-launcher vehicles," says the report.

In August 2011, Changgwang Trading Corporation, a front company for KOMID, bought four lorries in China that were then altered into ICBM launchers and displayed in a parade in Pyongyang to celebrate the centenary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung.

In addition, the Korea Ryonbong General Corporation purchased 2 tons of vanadium, which is used in the manufacture of missiles, from a Chinese company in May 2011.

Much of the equipment was shipped to North Korea from the Chinese port of Dalian.

"The UN North Korea Sanctions Committee has frequently asked China for clarification of North Korea's weapons transport through the port of Dalian, but China is said to have been shifting the responsibility to shipping companies of other nations or refusing to answer," says the report.

Sometimes, a bribe of between £40,000 – £60,000 is paid to a customs official to send each 40ft container filled with illegal missile components through Dalian, according to the report. North Korea also conceals its shipments.

"To hide its trade, North Korea has been using all available means, including falsely describing the contents of the shipments, forging the country of origin as China and purchasing the materials in the name of Chinese firms," adds the report.

Personnel from North Korean banks and trading companies regularly meet at Beijing International Airport to deliver large sums of money earned from weapons deals. This happens with the "connivance of Chinese authorities and the customs office," says the report.

China is North Korea's oldest and most committed ally, sending millions of "volunteer" soldiers to fight for the North during the war caused by its invasion of South Korea in 1950.

More recently, Beijing has propped up the bankrupt state with fuel and food supplies, while providing diplomatic support in the Security Council. China's aim is to guarantee the presence of a friendly state on its north-eastern border instead of a united Korean peninsula that might fall into America's orbit.

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced this afternoon that he has appointed two U.S. Attorneys to investigate possible leaks of classified national security information by Obama administration officials. 

The move comes amid growing calls from lawmakers demanding that the Obama administration look into a series of national security-related leaks to the news media, including those related to the President's "secret kill list" and to the Stuxnet computer virus. Some Republicans have suggested that the administration purposefully leaked the information for political gain.  

In a statement Friday, Holder said that the two prosecutors — Ronald Machen and Rod Rosenstein — to lead two separate criminal investigations conducted by the FBI into recent instances of possible unauthorized leaks. 

The statement says that the two U.S. Attorneys "are fully authorized to prosecute criminal violations discovered as a result of their investigations and matters related to those violations, consult with members of the Intelligence Community and follow all appropriate investigative leads within the Executive and Legislative branches of government." 

In a press conference today, President Obama said that he has "zero tolerance" for leaks, adding that the suggestion that the White House would purposely release classified information "offensive."

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